November 18, 2003 Io
Group, Inc. the parent company of the premier gay adult studio TITAN MEDIA
has filed suit against LFP, Inc. (Larry Flynt Publications) alleging
copyright infringement and common law Right of Publicity violations.
The claim stems from the publication of 220 Titan Media photographic images
published on the LFP owned and operated website Studclub.com, and served
from LFPcontent.com.

“We were stunned to find
220 of our images being sold as content in LFP’s Studclub.com website, the
images were being used as content in photo galleries with no associated
review or commentary.” states Keith Webb, Vice President of Marketing for
Io Group. “What is even more shocking is the fact that over 200 of
images had our name, or the name of the film, as part of the image’s file
name. Over 150 of the images had our copyright mark on the face of the image
itself. LFP clearly knew the origins and the owners of the photos yet
they went ahead and published and sold them as content on their paid
membership site.” Continues Webb.

“As one of the
worlds largest producers and copyright holders of adult materials in the
world, LFP knew or should have known that the content was not theirs to
publish and re-sell.” Says Gill Sperlien, General Counsel, Titan Media.
“We intend on showing the court that LFP’s actions were willful
infringements of Titan Media’s copyright protected properties and seek
maximum damages award.”

Io Group will be asking
the court for willful statutory damages for each of the 220 images, in
addition to common law Right of Publicity awards. At the discretion of
the court, and in an effort to deter others from similar infringment, up to
$150,000.00 per image may be awarded for willful violations of copyright
protected properties. In a recent similar case, Perfect 10 was awarded
$100,000 per image plus legal costs in an effort to send a message to online
publishers that they cannot take content and re-sell it without suffering
the consequences for their actions. The potential award in this case
could total over $30 million dollars should the court agree with Io
Group’s allegations and find for willful infringement against LFP.

“We are committed to
taking this case to trial, to protect our valuable property and our
rights.” Says Bruce Cam, CEO/President of Titan Media. “We
must send a message to the entire online adult industry that it is not okay
to publish and profit from someone else’s property without their consent.
If you illegally use Titan Media property, you will get caught and you will
end up paying.”

For additional information
or to schedule an interview please direct all requests to Gill Sperlein,
Titan Media’s general counsel, at the contact information listed below.